Now to be fair the idea of the Smurfs in the modern world is fun. I just don't trust Hollywood to make it fun.
I also have a concern about the future of the property.
Hollywood doesn't release movies that it can turn into franchises, at least not anymore (unless Clint Eastwood's involved) and I assume the goal here is to kickstart a series of Smurf movies and turn it into a profitable franchise (in America) once again.
And here's the thing that bothers me...THIS is the first movie. The first movie isn't about introducing the Smurf's own universe... its about ripping them OUT of it and putting them in a different environement. To a lot of kids THIS will be the first version of the Smurfs they'll know.
Basically the problem I have with this movie plot is...it is not a first movie in a franchise...it's a sequel to a movie that doesn't exist!
How can you establish a franchise's identity like this?
I fear that by the end of the movie we might find the Smurfs perpetually stuck in Manathan and establishing a new village somewhere in Central Park -.- or going to live with Neil Patrick Harris in East Village
If we don't get any 'trendy Smurf' in this one, wait until the sequel where they've been in New-York for years and learn how to swear like cabbies stuck in traffic o.o
As an aside I hope they give the Central Park obelisk magical properties and involve it in the plot, just because Central Park is such a great location not to use it.